The present invention relates to improvements in felting needles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,636 discloses a barb construction shaped to provide considerable strength and relatively smooth felting action upon the fibers. The present invention improves the barb construction of this patent by providing substantial mass at the tip of the barb extending from the front face of the tip rearwardly along a direction that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the needle blade. The trailing surface of the barb is preferably disposed at an angle such that during the retracting movement of the felting needle the trailing surface effects a reverse fiber transportation, the result of which is a concealment of the slightly visible needle holes on the needle entrance surface of the batt. This imparts to the material a better finish-appearing surface on the upperside thereof.
In addition, the barb adjacent its base is formed with fiber retention recesses extending along each side of the body of the barb, and these recesses function, during penetration of the fibers by the needle, the retain the picked up fibers close to the base of the barb. This minimizes the escape of the fibers off the exposed end of the barb.